The Long Road
by EmilyBaileyQuest
Summary: Kat O'Hara was just an Irish lass when tragedy struck her life. Seeking revenge on those who destroyed her world Kat becomes a pirate. The Long Road is her journey through the world of the Caribbean. From Pirates Online the game, NOT the movie.


Pirate Beginnings

Kat O'Hara stood on the deck of her small sloop, watching the island in the distance. She had finally made it to Tortuga. It had been a long journey in more ways than one. Thinking back she sighed.

Born in Ireland she had been just 12 when an Englishman had killed her parents. Taken in by family on the coast they taught her to sail and fish, little knowing just what she was really learning. At 15 she had begun to sail with the only female captain on the whole coast. The captain too had lost family to the English. Like Kat she hated them for it. On her first trip out Kat learned just what it was the captain was really at sea for when they sank an English merchant ship and looted her cargo. Unlike the English who had thoughtlessly torn their families apart neither the captain nor Kat were born killers. After looting the ships they sank they always set the crew adrift in lifeboats, giving the sailors the chance Kat and the captains families had never had. And thus Kat became a pirate.

After 2 years at sea Kat had become the captains right hand. From pirating she had made enough money to purchase a ship of her own. A simple slip by one of the sailors on the ship had alerted Kat's family to just what it was she was really doing, and they had turned her away for her piracy. Not wanting to stay with the bad memories Kat gathered her crew and headed for the Caribbean to wreak havoc on the English stationed there.

Three weeks into the month long journey Kat's ship came upon an East India Trading Company ship. Having no quarrel with them Kat and the crew continued on the way with no intent of attacking the ship. The East India ship had other ideas, and attacked Kat's ship without provocation or mercy. Though Kat's ship was running very well armed indeed it had been no match for the much larger East India ship. Kat's ship had been lost, with her the sole survivor, adrift in the middle of the ocean, clinging to the remains of her mainmast, badly wounded.

A full day and a long cold night later, adrift in a fog, Kat had washed up on a strange island. She'd been shocked to say the least to be woken by of all things a fairy and a small red dragon. Her parents had instilled in her a firm belief in the wee folk, but actually meeting one was rather a different matter. Even more so the fairy, who called herself Melody, worked her magic to restore the broken ribs and dislocated shoulder Kat had gotten in the fight for her ship.

Kat found a willing listener in her small healer. Even more surprising Melody understood Kat's anger and loss. She had created for Kat this small light sloop, a magical staff capped by a brilliant green gem the fairy had called a Never Stone, and a sword the likes of which Kat had never seen, which now hung from her hip.

The sword was long, but remarkably light and thin. From tip to hilt it shimmered from the Never Silver that strengthened it. It would never dull, never break, and never tarnish. In difference to Kat's Irish birth the hilt was a replica of the dragon that was Melody's companion, the guard it's outstretched wings. It's pommel was another Never Stone, but this one was red like Melody's Dragon, and held in place by the dragon's curling tail.

Instinctively Kat reached down and felt the pommel at her hip. The stone was warm from the sun, and reassuring to her. Kat would not be arriving in Tortuga unprepared as she had first feared. With a deep sigh she raised her spyglass and trained it on the island once more. Sighting the docks Kat stowed the glass and trimmed the sails, taking full advantage of the winds to lead her at the town.

The sun was fading when Kat finally made port. The dock worker eyed her, and Kat knew if she didn't find a guard her sloop would likely not be there when she returned. Striking a bargain with the dock worker she payed three shillings for the safety of her sloop. From the dock she made her way to the wharf. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, but knew she needed a place to acquire supplies, and to hear the local news.

Kat didn't have to go far at all to encounter a good place to pick up news. There, just off the end of the dock was a pub, the Kings Arm. However, the name of the place was far too English for her liking. Kat reasoned that on an island full of pirates this could not be the only pub. It only took asking a few of the locals for Kat to be directed up the hill to the Faithful Bride, a true Tavern.

Sure enough she'd had her suspicion about the Kings Arm confirmed. The only news she would have gotten there was news of a more sedate nature. Kat had a mind to talk a little piracy and treason. For that, she needed pirates not the few on the island trying to make an honest living.

From the moment she set foot in the door of the Faithful Bride Kat knew she was going to stand out. The women in the tavern were all rather more civilized than she was, for she was the only woman in the bar in breeches and a corset. For her attire alone Kat was drawing stares from not only the men but the women as well. Yet it was more than that. Kat moved with confidence few men even possessed. Her life had taught her hard lessons already. Further, as a female pirate she knew to show a moment of weakness could be her undoing.

Ignoring the stares and whispers directed her way Kat made her way across the crowded tavern to the bar. The barkeep was occupied talking to a man in a blue tunic with his long dark hair held back by a red bandana. Not one to hang back and wait Kat was coming up behind the man when he turned on her, asking her about some woman he was looking for. When she told him no, she had no sister named Ethel he turned back to the bar. More than a little surprised Kat paused. The man turned around and introduced himself as Captain Jack Sparrow. Her surprise must now have shown on her face, for even in Ireland the exploits of Captain Jack Sparrow were legend. Whatever the reason, that he was deep in his cups, or that he had sensed she knew who he was Captain Sparrow told her he was getting together a crew to take the Black Pearl back from the Navy.

While she wanted the English Navy badly Kat had her own agenda and wanted no part of Captain Sparrow's plans. Telling him so she bought him a pint and wished him well on his venture.

It occurred to Kat if Captain Sparrow was recruiting a crew in this tavern Kat guessed she had a fair shot at it as well. She didn't need a big crew at the moment. Only a sailor or two. After all her ship was rather small.

Kat took a seat at a table near the back of the tavern to observe the patrons of the bar. They weren't much to choose from, considering. To balance her crew, her life, her destiny on one or two of these men was not a decision she wanted to make lightly.

She was still considering the crowd when a woman dropped into the seat across the table from her. At first Kat didn't even look at her. But there was something familiar about the woman's red hair, and the sharp glint in her eyes that made Kat look again. Suddenly she gasped! "Luckie?"


End file.
